(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-11-17 14:13

Jakarta -- Indonesia has pledged to improve aviation security and services following a series of air accidents this year, in an effort to get the European Union (EU) to lift its ban on Indonesian air carriers, local press reported Saturday.

Regulators and airliners have met and vowed to make the improvement, the leading English-language Jakarta Post reported.

Indonesian airlines were banned by the EU on July 6 for their alleged poor service and failure to ensure flight safety and operational security following rampant air accidents.

"We need to work hard to prove we can meet international standards, and that starts with this declaration," said Chappy Hakim, head of the National Team for Transportation Safety and Security Evaluation, which is tasked with evaluating the performance of the domestic aviation.

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is expected to review Indonesia's progress at the end of 2008.

EU is to hold a meeting in Brussels on Monday, one of the agenda is to discuss lifting the ban on Indonesian airlines.

The Indonesian government is expected to deliver a presentation describing its efforts to tackle problems in the aviation industry.

EU has banned 51 Indonesian airlines in the huge archipelago country.

Indonesia has suffered from a series of airline accidents for the last 10 years, claiming thousands of lives.    

Earlier this year, Adam Air carrier plane with more than 100 people on board lost contact and disappeared in the waters of central Indonesia. In March, a Garuda Indonesia plane-200 with 140 people on board overshot the runway in Yogyakarta province and burst into flames, killing 21 people.